


A Bit of Faith

by Celisnebula



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-09
Updated: 2008-04-09
Packaged: 2017-10-05 01:59:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celisnebula/pseuds/Celisnebula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toshiko takes a moment to reflect on what has happened to Owen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bit of Faith

She feels oddly out of place; these walls hold no solace, no comfort for her. Her feet echo against the stone floor as she makes her way past the aisles of wooden pews. With the exception of one woman, near the front, the church is empty. As she nears the altar, she notices that the woman is kneeling on one of the padded, faded red knee stands, the fingers on her right hand slowly working around the small beads of a rosary.

Tosh can barely hear the whispered words the woman chants, "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst…" as she skirts past. With a weary sigh, she eases herself down, gingerly sitting on the uncomfortable pew – she's never been particularly religious before, so she isn't quite sure what to do. She runs a nervous hand down her skirt, trying to smooth out an imaginary wrinkle.

It is oddly quiet; no odd bleeps or buzzes filling the air – the sounds of her every day life. The silence makes her feel anxious, powerless. She isn't used to feeling powerless – invisible, yes, but she hasn't felt powerless since… well, since Jack recruited her.

The sound of metal hitting stone makes her jump, and she glances behind her. The praying woman is hunched over; picking up what must've been her car keys from the floor. Tosh quickly faces forward as the woman straightens. She sits still, listening to the echoing steps of the woman as she leaves, filled with apprehension. While the woman was here, she could sit and pretend – act as if she knew what she was doing. Now that the other woman is gone, she's faced with precarious uncertainty again.

She lets her gaze wander around the dimly lit interior, her eyes alighting on the holy cross. Given her line of work, the idea of God is strange – or at least the idea of God that she was taught as a child. She bites her bottom lip; after all the impossible things she's seen, all the species she's come across, she longs to ask, _Are you real?_

That's the crux of the matter, for all she knows, the God of religion could be nothing more than an alien or some other entity that had power – power early humans had never seen before. It makes sense that such a creature would've been god-like to the primitive human race.

Still, faith was a hallmark of her youth – faith in education, faith in family, most especially faith in God. She clings to that small hope – the idea that faith can help. Lord knows, Owen needs all the help he can get. And, while it is true that alien science brought him back – faith still saved him. Faith saved them all in the end.

Almost without though, the words spring from her lips, "Please help him." The sound of her voice echoing through the church startles her, and she bites her lower lip to stem the flow of words. Yet her mind races. _Please, please help him. He has so much to live for, if he'd let himself – I'd do anything to make him realize how much he has…_

The sound of her cell phone ringing drags her away from her maudlin thoughts.

"Tosh here," she says softly into the mobile. She shifts on the pew, alleviating some of the pressure on her buttock as she listens.

"No, it's no trouble at all, Ianto. I'm not busy," she responds after a moment. "Yes, I would tell you if I were busy."

"I think I could be persuaded," she says into to the phone, a faint smile touching her lips. "But tell Owen he owes me a drink at the pub, if I do this." She stands up, stretching on the balls of her feet to work the uncomfortable kinks out of her body. Easing out, she makes her way down the aisle towards the entrance, all the while listening to Ianto on the phone.

"All right, be there in a bit," she says softly before clicking the off button. She hazards one more glance around the church, feeling some sense of ease as she pushes out of the door.


End file.
